Reality, According to Ino
by jdouglas17
Summary: Recently, Ino's been feeling a lot more for her friend Naruto than ever before, but he's so much more interested in Sakura. Pairings are KibaHinata Narusaku, NaruIno, and SasuSaku. Lemons, language, later scenes.
1. First Signs of Reality

Reality according to Ino

Ino starts to feel more than friendship for her friend, Naruto Uzumaki. At first, he seems to be much more interested in Sakura, the school's favorite girl. She, along with the school hotshot, Sasuke Uchiha, may be the only things getting between Ino and the possible love of her life.

* * *

Ino had liked her friend, Naruto since way back in sixth grade when they met. The circumstances under which they met were probably not so great. She'd yelled at him about 'coming out and saying it when you like someone.'

Sure, it was just like she was trying to tell him something. She had been crying, somewhere nearby when he'd gotten shot down by some heartless bitch. Or, that was what Ino liked to call her.

Anyway, her feelings had been coming out more than ever, recently. She was dropping _much _more obvious hints than before, or so she thought. She'd hugged him, cuddled with him during movies, asked him how his day was every day for a couple of months(or at least every day they saw each other).

Then, there was Sasuke. Your average Star-player, favorite guy. Sasuke Uchiha, who every girl wanted and every guy wanted to be. Naruto wasn't far behind him, and besides, Ino hated that opinionated a-hole of a quarterback.

Not to mention Sakura. Just a few days ago, _someone _told her about Naruto's _obvious attraction _to her. What the hell was so special about her that made guys swoon everytime she walked by?

Okay, well she was drop dead sexy, even a straight girl could say that. She had legs that were smooth, long, and toned. Her skin was pale and creamy. She had a beautiful face, with dimples when she smiled, green-blue eyes, and perfect lips.

Then there was that _hair_. Blonde with pink streaks. Half her hair was _pink_. Pink, of all things! Why that would turn anyone on, she didn't know. But, apparently, it turned on most of the males at her school.

Even with all that, Ino was pretty hot too. Maybe not quite as hot as Sakura, but close. She had a little bit more weight on her than sakura, five pounds at most. She had equally perfect skin, only well-tanned, and mostly, the main difference between the two was Ino didn't have pink streaks in her hair.

The main thing she had against Sakura was that Naruto was attracted to her. That's when it got a whole lot worse.

It was after school, and Ino was heading to her locker, walking down the school's enormous hallways, when she spotted Sakura and, a little further down the hall, Sasuke pushing Naruto toward her.

Ino, wanting to hear what was going on, waited around the corner. "Hey, Sakura, Naruto has something to ask you!" Sasuke cat-called. It disgusted Ino, and probably disgusted Sakura a little, too.

"Um, h-hi. I w-wanted to know . . . well, will you go out with me?" naruto tripped over his words. He must've been blushing like crazy. "I'll think about it." Moments later, Sakura came around the corner.

As soon as Sakura was gone, the two boys parted ways. Ino went to follow Naruto. She felt pretty bad about what had just happened. For one she was mad that he'd done that, but she also felt bad for him. She knew what 'I'll think about it' usually meant, coming from girls.

"Hey, Naruto! How was your day?" She asked cheerfully, hugging him as she came close. He hugged back loosely. "Pretty good. Sakura said she'd think about going out with me." He seemed pretty much exstatic. "How was yours?"

"Okay . . . Hey, you wanna go do something today? Maybe we could go see a movie?" It came out almost too happy. "Well, I kinda told Kiba we would do something. Sorry." He scratched his head guiltily.

"Where are you guys going, I wouldn't mind coming along." Naruto shifted nervously at the comment. "Y-you won't wanna come." He tripped up. "Okay . . . Well, I should leave, my dad's here." Ino started to leave, then turned and hugged Naruto again. She wanted to tell him how she felt right then and there, but decided it was probably best not to.

She got in the car, and with that, she left.

Naruto had been thinking a lot recently. He was somewhat confused about the whole 'Ino' thing. he definitely liked her, that was something he could admit, but he liked sakura too. The two girls were similar in a lot of ways, and Naruto didn't know why he'd like one over the other. It wasn't sakura's pink streaks.

At first, Naruto had thought maybe that was it, but he came to the conclusion that it was because she wasn't hanging on him like Ino had been doing recently. Another factor might've been Sakura's age being the same as his. They were both 16 and in junior year, whereas Ino was almost two years younger than him, and a grade lower.

Why any of this had anything to do with it was beyond him, but that's what he'd decided. Maybe if it didn't work out with Sakura, he'd go out with Ino, but that would only be after he got up the courage to ask Sakura out and if Ino asked him out, though he didn't see that happening.

Back when Naruto had met Ino, he had been in the seventh grade, while she was in the sixth. They had gone to the same school since she was in kindergarten, but they'd never met yet. Until _that _day. It had been right after he'd gotten rejected by his crush, a girl named Miyoko. Ino had jumped out from behind a tree and yelled, 'If you like someone, come out and say it, coward!'

Those were inspirational words, but Naruto could now admit that he was still as much a coward as back then. Actually, he'd finally been able to ask Sakura out, though Sasuke had made him.

There was someone real _inspirational _that Sasuke. He was one of the popular bastards. Naruto didn't really call him a friend, more of an acquaintance. He was too cocky, too rich, and way too obsessed with always having a girlfriend, no matter who ended up hurt. He was that way with a lot of people. Naruto had always had this idea that one day they'd end up enemies.

Naruto snapped out of thought suddenly as Kiba was talking to him. "What?" Naruto said, in a daze. "Nevermind, man. Something going on,you seem real distracted today." Kiba said, irritably.

"Oh, not much, just . . . I asked Sakura out, but she hasn't really given me an answer yet. She said, 'I'll think about it.'" Naruto replied without any interest in what he was saying. It was like he was reading the weather report.

"Way to go, Naruto! Went for the big catch, huh?" Apparently, it was much more interesting to Kiba than it was to Naruto. "You _would_ say that. I wouldn't call it that, but whatever. I actually like her more than just cause she's hot." Naruto remarked almost angrily.

'C'mon, don't get so worked up over it. What the hell's wrong with you today?"

"I don't know . . . I think Ino's mad at me, I kinda told her about it, and she was acting weird, like she really wanted to come hang out. She wanted to come along, even though I told her you would be here for awhile." Kiba punched his shoulder. "Well, why didn't ya say something. You coulda just said ino was gonna come over, I'd understand." He had a sly look on his face.

"What are you talking about? It's not like we were gonna do anything. You're sick . . . let's get out of here." Naruto got up, heading for the door, Kiba followed after him.

Thanks for reading!! Hope you liked it there'll be more to come. I don't think I did too good a job, but don't worry, it gets better. There are some underlying plots in here, you'll just have to see where this goes from here. Please Review, I need all I can get. Stay tuned!!


	2. Facing The Truth

Reality according to Ino

Yay, I'm so happy! I got lots of reviews! Thanks everyone. However, I did get a lot more alerts than reviews. Please, if you haven't reviewed already, go ahead and do that, I'd appreciate it. If you have enough time to scroll down to add story to alert, you have enough time to just give a 'good job.' It'd be greatly appreciated if you would, not just for me, for everyone who writes a story.

Anyway, now that I've ranted a little, this chapter's going to be interesting. I tried my best to make it longer, so hope it's good. Don't forget, those who have and haven't reviewed, please do so for this chapter! Thanks, people!

* * *

A couple of weeks had passed, and Naruto still didn't have an answer from Sakura. He was beginning to think that maybe she wasn't going to say yes. Truthfully, there was no way he could know what she was thinking.

On the other hand, he now knew perfectly what was on Ino's mind. His good friend - okay, not really _his _friend, but ino's - Hinata had clued him in on that, though he was already pretty sure how she felt before.

Naruto was waiting on false hopes for Sakura. He was relatively confident that things wouldn't work, but he decided maybe he should just hang around and see what happened.

Then, things were suddenly looking up on a friday, three weeks after he'd asked Sakura out. She approached him, cheerfully after school. "Hey, Naruto. How're you doing?" She smiled warmly at him. "Ahh . . . pretty good. What's up?" he scratched his head, nervously awaiting her answer.

"Well, I've been thinking, 'why would I go out with Naruto.' But I kinda decided, well, why not? I guess . . . well, Yeah. Yeah, I will." Naruto didn't quite know what to do with it at first, but he got an awkward smile on his face, then laughed, grabbing the girl in a hug. "You're awesome, Sakura!" He said happily. "hehe . . . " There was an awkward exchange of numbers, then they hugged and kissed briefly before parting.

Naruto had gone a short distance down the hallway when he ran into Ino. He hadn't seen her that day, so he was surprised to see that her hair had changed drastically. "Hey, Ino. You changed your hair . . . it looks good." Honestly, it made no difference to him. "Thanks, glad you like it." She hugged him. He was more hesitant to hug back.

"Umm . . . I don't know how to say this, but, uh . . . you can't be hugging me all the time, now. Sakura, she said yes. So, we're . . ." He trailed off. "Dating . . . I get it. Way to go, Naruto." She pretended to be happy for him, but had a very hard time with it.

"It's okay, Ino. You can be mad at me, I'd understand if you were." it shocked Ino to hear him say that. "Well, I'm not mad . . . it's okay. I gotta go, now." She just walked away, like she had nothing more to say. This was what reality was, according to Ino.

* * *

It was just after Naruto had run into Sakura, and he was home. He felt guilty about being with Sakura when he knew Ino liked him so much. But, he figured there was no use thinking of that, and picked up the phone, dialling Sasuke.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I did it! Sakura said yes!" Naruto answered excitedly.

"Nice, loser. Don't you have something to say to me?" Sasuke replied sarcastically.

"Oh, right. Thanks for being a jackass." Naruto laughed stupidly at his own comment.

"Haha, very funny. I helped you hook up with the hottest girl in school!" Sasuke said, overconfidently.

"I wasn't thinking of it that way, really. I'm just glad that I have a girlfriend, finally. Well, peace, I gotta go tell Kiba." Naruto hung up the phone, then quickly dialled in Kiba's number.

"Hey, what's up, Naruto?"

"Oh, nothing. I just . . . hooked up with Sakura." He said, as though it were no problem.

"Nice job, but, if I remember, Sasuke made you ask her out. Right?" Kiba answered devilishly.

"Whatever! It's not like it was really that hard, I didn't need his help." Naruto said indignantly. Kiba was cracking up on the other end.

"Haha, keep telling yourself that . . . th-that's hilarious." Kiba laughed into the phone.

"Yeah, that's just a riot. I'm not telling everyone yet, so don't say a word. Later." Just as Naruto hung up the phone, another call was coming in. It was Sakura.

"He-hello?" Naruto picked up shyly.

"Um, is Naruto there?" Sakura replied just as shyly. You wouldn't think they really were going out.

"This is Naruto. What's up, Sakura?" His tone was more confident that time.

"Well, c-can we keep this a secret? I mean, us. I don't want everyone to know just yet." Naruto cursed his luck.

"S-sure. That's fine." He knew he hadn't sounded convincing enough. He couldn't lie.

"You already told someone didn't you?" Sakura asked. Naruto wondered how she could tell so easily.

"Y-yeah. Two people, actually. Just Sasuke and Kiba. Sorry, Sakura." He felt guilty.

"That's okay, I don't mind if it's them. I need to go, It's my dad's birthday tomorrow, and I haven't found anything yet. Bye."

"Okay, I lo-" The line cut off before he could finish saying 'I love you.' It made him a little mad, but he'd get over it. Ino, on the other hand, was probably going to be mad at _him _for a long time. He knew she was, it was altogether too obvious.

Naruto laid on his bed until he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It had to be about seven when Naruto's foster parent, Iruka, came in, which woke him up. He was in his mid-thirties and taught at some college nearby. They both got along pretty well.

The blonde stumbled into the front room of the apartment where he lived to find Iruka already at work putting some food dish together. "Hey, Iruka. How were the students?" He said, with a yawn.

"Oh, the usual. How was your day?" Iruka asked, talking about the students with an agitated tone. "It was great! Sakura decided to go out with me." Naruto answered, having told Iruka about her before.

"Good for you. Are you guys going on a date?" Iruka replied, a hint of perversion in his voice. "No way, we just hooked up. Besides, I don't know if she'd want a date yet. What's for dinner?" The blonde attempteed to change the subject.

"You never you unless you ask . . ." The man ignored the question, having finished making dinner and set it on the table where Naruto sat, awaiting his food.

* * *

Two days later, Naruto had slept most of the day, only waking up when the phone rang. It was around one on sunday, and the person calling was Sakura. "Hello?' He picked up.

"Hi, Naruto. Are you doing anything today?" Sakura answered gently, with a hint of intimacy. "No, actually I just woke. Why, you wanna do something?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, why don't we go to the mall?" Naruto was excited at the idea of a first date with Sakura. Come to think of it, that would be his first date with anyone.

"That'd be great! I bet Iruka could drop us off. Uh, I need a shower, so as soon as I'm done with that we'll be over, if that's okay with you." He sounded more excited than he probably should've. "Mm hmm, that'd be great. See ya soon."

Again, just before Naruto could finish saying 'I love you' the line disconnected.

* * *

Somewhere across town, Ino was at her house with her best friend, Hinata. She'd been distraught over Naruto since hearing that he was with Sakura, or, as Ino sometimes referred to her, 'Skankura.' She'd barely slept that night, while it wasn't until around noon that Hinata had woken up. She still hadn't exactly explained her problem to Hinata yet.

"Hey, how long have you been awake?" Hinata asked, somewhat timidly. She was always a little shy, but it was a lot worse around people she didn't know or had a crush on. One such example would be Kiba, who she'd always had a crush on.

"A couple hours, couldn't sleep." Frankly, Ino had been like that a lot recently. Hinata knew something was wrong with the girl. Hell, _Ino _knew something was wrong with her. She was in love.

"What's wrong with you, Ino? You've been acting real weird for weeks." Hinata stated, worriedly.

"Hmm . . . I don't know. I just feel kinda lonely. Naruto doesn't seem to notice that I like him. It's like he doesn't have any interest in me. Even when he saw my hair, he was all about Skankura. I guess they're going out now." Ino whined. Hinata gave a sympathetic look. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll come around." Hinata tried to make her feel better, and it kinda worked.

Hinata was actually pretty good at making people feel better. You wouldn't think so by her appearance. She was petite, quiet, and incredibly shy with strangers. But once people got to know here, she was a lot more outgoing. She was quite attractive as well, even to Ino. Her hair was shoulder length and black, with the ends curving out away from her face, her body was well-shaped, and she had a pretty face, when it could be seen.

Hinata's main problem, Ino thought, was that she hid too much. She'd never had a boyfriend, that anyone knew of. In fact, she didn't have many friends at all.

It wasn't really anything Ino could fix. They got along okay, so Ino wouldn't want to mess that up. Maybe Ino was one of Hinata's only friends, but Hinata was one of Ino's only friends, especially now. "You're right. I'm sure he will." The blonde answered her friend, smiling brightly.

Ino got up, heading for the door to her room. "I'm hungry." She loudly proclaimed, motioning to her friend to follow. They headed into the kitchen to get food.

* * *

Naruto's date with Sakura had gone smoothly, and he had really enjoyed it. She had seemed to enjoy it, too. He was hoping it was because she liked him. They were leaving the mall, ready to head separate ways when Sakura spoke up. "This was fun, Naruto. We should do this again sometime soon." She said happily.

"Sure, no problem. Glad you had fun, I definitely did." They leaned into each other, kissing lightly, their hands meeting. "looks like my ride's here already. I'll see you later." Sakura said, pulling away from Naruto slowly. He wanted to say 'I love you,' but he figured it was too soon. Maybe it was good she'd hung up both those times. He definitely didn't want her too feel rushed, so he just left it with a simple goodbye.

The car sped away, and Naruto was left with his thoughts. He wondered if that feeling he had, like he was flying, he wondered if it was normal to feel that way after a good first date. He also wondered how she really felt about him, how she had felt since the day they met.

Naruto hadn't felt anything that day, but, for some reason, every time after that that they met, he could hardly talk to her, and even then he'd stutter and shake. It was diferent now. It was like they'd really connected. He didn't know what that was, he just thought whatever the feeling was, it had to be good. It had to be right.

* * *

well, it's done. How was it? Was it long enough? I worked hard on it, so I hope it's good. I think I might have rushed things a bit, but you have to remember, all the characters have know each other for around five years. Just keep reading, things will come together. You have to remember some of the things in these chapters. I'm using a very obvious form of foreshadowing. Anywho, please review, I live for those!


	3. Everyone's thoughts

Reality according to Ino

Okay . . . the real chapter three. I kinda got ahead of myself. More stuff ended up happening then I meant to write yet. So, this is the real chapter three. I thought up some new stuff that can happen, thanks to Backyard, there's some free advertizing for you! Anyway, story . . . I'm gonna tell you how Hinata and Kiba got together, Sakura's side of things, and what Sasuke's doing this whole time. R&R

* * *

Hinata had been feeling useless recently. Here was her best friend hurting, and the only person who could make her feel better was Naruto, that bastard. She couldn't believe he'd go after _that, _when he had a beautiful girl right in front of him, who loved him, too.

Anyway, Hinata already had enough of her own crap to put up with, but she wasn't about to complain to Ino. Hell, she could be with the guy she loved, if she'd just gather enough courage to ask him out. That was Kiba.

She'd like him since probably eighth grade, that was about four years ago. Before that, she'd liked Naruto, but gave up when she found out her best friend was in love with him.

At present, it was just a few days after Naruto had gotten with Sakura - who she hated - and she was ready to ask Kiba out. It was actually the monday after, and _that _had happened friday.

Kiba, of course, had to be hanging with Naruto and Sasuke. She shot a glare at Naruto, then walked up to Kiba shyly. "Um . . . c-can we talk? Th-there's something I need to tell you." She said, blushing. "Yeah, sure."

Truthfully, they'd only talked a few times, and those had turned out not so good. Anyway, they walked just to the cafeteria doors, only about thirty feet from the other two.

Hinata could hear the other two boys talking. Naruto had something along the lines of 'I didn't do anything.' _That's a laugh, asshole, _Hinata was thinking. She looked over to see Sasuke shrug his shoulders.

God, she hated him. That pompous ass, who thought he was all that. There was always a girl hanging on him, unless he'd gone and broken someone's heart again. That's it, Sasuke was a pompous, heart-breaking ass.

"Hey, what do you wann tell me?" Kiba said. Their eyes locked, and Hinata blushed, looking into that tanned, handsome face. He wore a devilish grin on his face as well, though that was usually present.

"Um . . . well, I kinda l-like you, so . . . I w-was just wondering, well, will you go out with me? I can w-wait, if you need time to-" She stopped talking, as Kiba grabbed her in a hug. "Yeah, that'd be fine. I will." Kiba answered as he let go. If anything, that devilish grin intensified. "I like you, too." He added.

Sasuke and some of the other kids who had apparently been watching, were whistling and cat-calling. Hinata was quick to get out of there. "I better, uh, I better go now." Hinata said, hugging him briefly before leaving.

She hated how guys always knew just how to ruin the moment, especially that Sasuke.

Soon, Hinata had gone on to her next class, where she met up with Ino. "Hi, Ino." She greeted cheerily. "Hey, what's got you in such a good mood, huh?" Ino asked, trying her best to be happy, too.

"Oh, just Kiba . . ." Hinata looked over at Ino, a bright smile on her face. "That's good. Glad _someone _got their man, before he got stolen away." Ino answered, somewhat bitterly. "Ino . . ." Hinata's tone was sad, but there was little to nothing she could do.

* * *

Sakura had been feeling like maybe it hadn't been quite the best idea to go out with Naruto. Since they'd gotten together, in fact in just three days, Naruto had proven a little needy. He wanted to hold onto her a lot, and most of what they'd done already was just cuddling. That was a little bit of a turnoff.

So, she told him. She really _had _been quite the bitch about it too. She'd just blurted it out, 'you're too needy.' Of course, she was above everyone, so she didn't feel guilty about it. She concluded that Naruto was also too soft.

However, even though she did say yes to him, her feelings were elsewhere, really. She'd liked Sasuke more, and had already decided that the day she met Naruto. That was about three years ago.

Above all things, she was glad Naruto hadn't mentioned Ino. She didn't like Ino all that much. The whole truth was, one reason she said yes to Naruto was to hurt Ino. Yes, she was that mean.

So, why was Naruto putting up with it? The answer was quite simple. He thought he loved her. Sakura was good at playing with people's emotions to get what she wanted. Indeed, Naruto had screwed up.

Basically, Sakura wanted Naruto all to herself, despite not really liking him, just so she could hurt people, and she felt no remorse.

* * *

So, all kinds of things were happening all around, but what was Sasuke doing? Well, he was playing with girls' hearts. In just the past two months, he'd gone through three girls, all of which had asked him out.

Sasuke was like the school's player, or at least he liked to think of himself that way. Other people considered him the school manwhore. Those were people like Ino, Hinata, and a few others.

His best friend was Neji hyuga, who was about on his level of attractive and lusted. All the girls liked the, save a few who saw through them. Both of them were geniuses, though they were wasting it being such pigs.

On this particular day, they were sitting around the lunch table (Sasuke, Kiba, Naruto, and Neji) when Hinata came up to them. Sasuke didn't know what she was planning to do, but she shot a glare at him and Naruto.

"Um . . . c-can we talk? Th-there's something I need to tell you." The girl said shyly to Kiba. He left with her, just stopping at the cafeteria doors.

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, who seemed offended. "I didn't do anything, I don't know what she's mad at me for." The blonde complained. Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders in slight amusement. He found it funny that Hinata had been glaring at either of them.

"You know, she's my cousin, Naruto. I live with her. I think she said something about 'that bastard hurting Ino.' Good job Naruto." Neji replied coolly, slugging Naruto on the arm, a prideful grin on his face.

"That's nothing to be proud about." Naruto whispered under his breath, not letting anyone hear but Sasuke. Sasuke didn't see why he'd been acting like such an idiot. He had Sakura, why would he be worried about Ino?

Then again, Sasuke might benefit from that. Afterall, Sakura was the girl he liked. He snapped out of his thoughts to whistle as he saw Kiba hug Hinata. The girl glared at him again before hugging Kiba and walking away.

"Nice, Kiba! You like shy girls, huh?" Sasuke said, greatly amused. Kiba just punched him playfully. "Shut up. It's not what you'd think." Sasuke didn't know what he meant, but he assumed Kiba was trying to say he wasn't obsessed with girls like _he_ was.

* * *

Kiba was really happy that Hinata had asked him out. In fact, it had changed him already. It had been two days since getting together with her, and he'd slowly started to separate himself from his 'friends.'

The main person he had gotten away from was Naruto. He hadn't known what was going on until going over and hanging out with Hinata and Ino. Naruto had known Ino liked him, and just completely ignored that.

So, in the past two days, Kiba had begun to stop talking to him. At first he was just 'not having enough time for Naruto.' He was planning to just stop talking to him entirely at some point, but he didn't know when.

Besides all that, things were good for him. He was currently with Hinata at his own house. It was a decent sized house, and usually there'd be someone home by after school, but his sister was gone at college, and his parents were probably still working.

They had the house to themselves, but Kiba wasn't thinking about that at all. He unintentionally sighed, suddenly. "Something wrong?" Hinata asked, worriedly. Kiba didn't answer at first. "Something right, I just . . . don't know how to say it."

What he was trying to say was that she'd changed him, before her, he was almost as bad as Sasuke. Now Naruto, the group's 'good guy' was worse than Kiba, who was practically a saint.

"You make me better." He said softly, almost in a whisper, leaning in and kissing her on the lips. She giggled as he pulled away. "You know how to treat a girl." She answered dreamily.

Kiba wrapped an arm around her, shaking his head. He was thinking that was a stupid thing for him to say. How could they be that close after two days?

So, is that better? I tried to make it have more about other characters and not just Ino and Naruto. Hopefully it's okay. Keep the great reviews coming.


	4. A change of heart

Reality, according to Ino

So, I guess the new chapter three wasn't as good. I was trying to make it better, but I'll leave that one up anyway. The story will go more smoothly from here if I don't try to rewrite it like it was before. Anyway, just wait and see what happens, I promise this chapter will be good.

* * *

It'd been about two weeks since Naruto and Sakura had begun dating. Sure, she was mean and bitchy most of the time, but he was too soft, Almost like he liked the abuse or something. He'd actually had some questions for her for some time.

Anyway, he was at her house with her on a thursday. They were mostly just hanging out, being a couple when Naruto decided to ask how she felt. "What do you think about me?" He asked. He'd really wanted to know for awhile.

"Well, I guess you're pretty hot, and you treat me pretty good. What do you think about me?" How did he know she was gonna go there?

"Wait, what do you mean 'I guess?'" Naruto replied, ignoring her question. "Well, you're no Sasuke, but you look good. So . . . ?" She answered, curiously.

"You're pretty. You're worth . . ." He paused to reach over and kissed her. "Doing that to, and I love you." He whispered 'I love you' into her ear. Immediately, she became cold and stiff. "What's wrong." It was more of a command than a question.

"Nothing. I'm gonna go take a nap." That was exactly what she went to do. It kinda pissed Naruto off that she'd just leave with nothing more to say. It was obvious that she didn't feel the same, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it.

He decided food would be good, since Sakura was going to sleep - she found his eating habits atrocious - and in his room. Despite his current thoughts being what a bitch she was, he couldn't bring himself to want to break up with her.

The main thought he had about that matter was that he'd be stuck with her, probably, until she decided to break it off with him. He was thinking that'd be horrible, but he really didn't love her, and deep inside, he knew that.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kiba's relationship with Hinata had gone the opposite way. Hinata had been the one to express her love first. Kiba wasn't one with words, but those were ones he could say back.

They were quickly becoming very much attached to each other. However, Kiba pitied the guy who was once his best friend, as Naruto and Sakura seemed to be doing worse everytime he saw them.

There was nothing he could really do, so he just kept ignoring it. In fact, he was now completely ignoring Naruto. He was thinking Naruto would say something eventually, but it hadn't happened yet.

His luck was bound to run out, and, on friday, it did. Naruto approached him and Hinata at lunch one day, wanting to talk to him. "Hey, Kiba what's up?" Kiba didn't answer. "Hey, what'd I do to you, huh?"

That remark pissed Kiba off, and he stood up, turned around, and grabbed Naruto's collar. "It's not what you did to me, it's what you've been doing, what you're still doing to Ino. She's in love with you, and you're busy with someone you don't even love."

Naruto pulled the other boy's hand off his shirt and swung his fist, missing. After a few traded blows, Kiba got the better of him and ended up sitting on him, fist at the ready. He swung a few more times, breaking Naruto's nose and bruising him up pretty good before teachers pulled him off the unfortunate blonde boy.

Kiba was taken to the office, and a few teachers led Naruto to the clinic, but not before he got a brief lashing from Hinata. "What's your problem, Naruto?" She asked before leaving to follow Kiba.

Naruto actually did feel guilty this time, and knew he'd deserved that broken nose. Ironically, valentine's day was right around the corner, so Naruto had until the next tuesday to break up with Sakura and make things better, or he'd have to wait longer, and then Ino might never forgive him by that time.

* * *

Kiba had gone home at about twelve thirty, and it was now three, by which time Ino and Hinata had arrived at his house. His parents hadn't been home yet, or else no one would've come over. Hinata didn't want Ino to know why Kiba had gotten suspended, but Kiba thought she needed to know, however, he wasn't going to say unless Ino asked. Which, of course, she did.

"Why did you get suspended for so long kiba?" She asked. Hinata, being faced away from Ino, mouthed 'no' to Kiba, who answered anyway. "Broke a kid's nose." He answered proudly. His attitude quickly changed when Ino asked 'who.'

"Um, Narut-" Hinata covered his mouth, but anyone could tell whose name he was about to say. "Wh-what? Why'd you do that, I told you not to hurt him." Ino's eyes saddened. and tears started to well up in those aqua blue orbs.

"Well, he pissed me off, okay? He was asking what he did, like he doesn't know. Oh, he knows, alright!" Kiba defended. Hinata smacked him upside the head, earning an 'ow' out of him.

"Think of it this way, when valentine's day comes around, I'm sure he'll come to his . . . oh." Kiba knew he messed up, a moment to late. Ino started bawling from the mention of the 'V' word.

Ino just wanted Naruto to come around. She'd been hoping it'd be over quick, yet it had still been almost three weeks since he'd started dating 'skankura.' She hated that girl, it felt like she'd had her man stolen away from her.

What would she do if Naruto didn't come to his senses by valentines day? She didn't know, but hopefully her friends would stick around, or she might do something bad. She especially hoped Hinata would be around to support her then.

* * *

Naruto had gotten home. The ride had been shitt, since Iruka rode him the whole way there from school. mostly about how 'immature' he was being, his grounding sentence, and how Iruka never wanted to see Ino again. Then there was the message from Sakura saying she 'just wanted to see if he was okay,' since she'd already heard about the fight with Kiba he'd had just thirty minutes ago.

He was lucky actually. His grades sucked so it was a good thing he was only suspended for the rest of the day. There wasn't a very good chance he'd be able to pass his junior year though.

upon arriving at home, he went straight to his room, slammed the door, and flopped on his bed. He had already decided what he was going to do tomorrow, but it wasn't then yet, and until then, he had nothing to do except homework, but he wasn't about to start doing that soon, he hadn't done most of the year's homework.

Sakura would be history tomorrow. Ino would be his world starting tomorrow, and tomorrow, he'd make friends with Kiba again. Oh, wait, he couldn't do that, Kiba had gotten suspended on account of breaking his nose. Naruto held no grudge against Kiba, he'd deserved the broken nose.

Although, his chances of getting back with Ino were slim to none. The last hallway encounter he'd had with the girl was unnerving. He'd never seen her look so hurt before, the whole time he'd known her. It was all too obvious. The girl was in love with him.

* * *

Like it? This story is nearing it's end actually. There will probably be about three or four more chapters after this one. Don't worry, everything will get better soon. However, all next week I won't be updating any due to summer camp. As soon as I get back, I'll write you guys a nice long chapter, okay?! That's a promise! My longest chapter yet!


	5. listen to your heart

Reality, according to Ino

Yay! I'm so glad you guys liked the chapter four I put up. It was pretty much chapter three, only rewritten a little better and taking place a week later in the story. Although the number of reviews is somewhat lacking recently. Please start reviewing more people!

* * *

Monday rolled around and Naruto had failed to break up with Sakura. He hadn't been able to see or talk to her all weekend, and all day she had pretty much avoided him. Almost like she knew it was coming, but there was no possible way. Or else, maybe she wanted to break up with him. That would make things a hell of a lot easier for him.

Finally, he caught up to her and stopped her in the hall. Just looking at her, it seemed like she was guilty. He was thinking she probably wasnt. "Hey, Sakura." Naruto started.

"Oh, h-hi Naruto. How ya doin?" She started, feigning innocence - and poorly - to try and throw him off.

"Not so good. For starts, I know you've been avoiding me all day. Why?" He interrogated. She seemed irritated at the response she got.

"See, here's the thing . . . " She paused, but Naruto didn't let her continue. "What's the thing, you're breaking up with me, well I'm beating you to it. Bye." That was all he said before walking away, trying to leave it at that.

"What are you doing, are you crazy? You can't break up with me!" Sakura yelled at him. He turned quickly, a glare on his face. "I'm doing what I should've been doing, listening to my heart. You should do the same." Again, he turned to leave.

"Well, don't come whining to me when nobody wants you!" Naruto laughed as he continued walking, not paying much attention to the indignant screams coming from the pink-haired girl behind him. As Naruto continued walking he ran into Hinata. He suddenly got an idea of how to get to Ino, though it was more than likely to fail.

"Hinata, wait." He said, knowing she wouldn't be too happy to talk to him. "What do you want, are you trying to hurt Ino worse. Trust me, she doesn't need you around." Hinata replied, snydely.

"That might be, but I need her around. Can you tell her I'm sorry and I really need to talk to her?" Naruto attempted. Hinata glared back at the blonde. "You should've thought about all that _before _you got with Sakura." With that the girl walked away from him, not giving him a chance to explain anything.

'Oh, well,' he though. He'd have to figure something out later.

* * *

Just when Ino was thinking a lower depth of depression wasn't possible, she ran into a pissed off Sakura. As the two came close, Sakura shoved her meanly into a wall. 'Bitch" The pink-haired girl said, continuing on.

Ino simply slid down the wall she currently had her back against, sitting on the floor, and burst into tears. She didn't understand. Didn't Sakura already have the only thing she wanted? What reason would the bitch have for pushing her, she wondered. As tears cascaded down her face from her blue-green orbs, arms suddenly wrapped around her as Kiba sat down beside her.

Looking around, the blonde saw Hinata heading in the direction Sakura had gone in. "It's okay, Ino, just tell me what happened." Kiba rocked her slightly, holding her tightly in his arms. She wished it were Naruto with his arms wrapped around her.

"I duh-don't know what I d-did. She just came up and sh-shoved me . . ." Ino cried into his shoulder as she choked out an explanation. "I'm sorry, Hinata's going to take care of it." Kiba was so confident and sure of what he was saying, it made Ino feel a little bit better, but there wasn't much else that could be done.

* * *

It was afterschool as Hinata rounded a corner and saw Ino sitting with her back against a wal crying. She looked down the hall and saw Sakura retreating. "Talk to Ino, I'll take care of that bitch." She told Kiba, who was with her. He went to Ino's side, and Hinata headed off after 'skankura.'

After finally catching up to Sakura, Hinata grabbed her arm to make her stop. "What'd you do to Ino, bitch!" Hinata asked angrily. "Nothing she didn't deserve, now let go of me." Sakura answered sharply.

"What did she do to deserve anything from _you?_" Hinata interrogated. She'd just run into Naruto, but couldn't imagine it had anything to do with him. "Well, for starts, she stole my boyfriend." That got Hinata even more angered.

"What are you talking about, you stole him from _her_." The girl bit back. "What are _you _talking about? I didn't steal Naruto. He just dumped me. Now, get the fuck away from me." Sakura pulled out of her grip and began walking away again.

The news of Naruto dumping sakura was downright shocking. She had no reason to go after Sakura anymore, so she headed back toward Kiba and Ino.

"hey, Ino, how ya doin'?" Hinata asked when she got back to them. "She says Sakura just pushed her down." Kiba answered. She nodded her head at his answer, then turned to Ino. "Listen, Naruto wanted to say he's sorry and he wants to talk to you. He's not with Sakura anymore, he . . . dumped her." The sound of it coming from her own mouth shocked her even more, and apparently shocked Ino a great deal.

So, helping Ino to her feet, Kiba and Hinata headed out of the school building, Ino following along. Naruto would've gone home already, so they didn't bother looking for him at the school.

* * *

It was the next day. Valentine's day. There seemed to be a depression sinking in all over the place. Sakura was just pissed off, Sasuke was simply horny, along with his whole gang. Naruto felt guilty, and wished he had been able to fix things before 'the day.' Ino, on the other hand, had hit an all time low, though it could've been worse if Naruto were still with Sakura.

Anyway, all day, Ino and Naruto had been looking for each other, but in different places all day long. Finally it was afterschool, a good while after school had ended, and no one was around. Naruto had gone to detention, and Ino had some afterschool activity to do. They were both heading outside when they ran into each other at last.

"Ino!"  
"Naruto!"

The two shouted the other's name then ran, meeting in the middle with a hug. "Damnit, Naruto don't you ever do a thing like that again." Ino said into his ear, tears beginning to fall. "I'm so sorry, I . . . I don't know what I was thinking."

They separated. Ino was expecting him to do some explaining, which he was prepared to do. "Look, I realised what I was doing was stupid, everything just seemed to be getting worse without you around, I guess . . . you hold everything together, Ino, and I love you."

Ino laughed, tears still in her eyes. But, these tears were different, they were tears of joy. "I love you, too Naruto, so much . . ." She grabbed him in a hug again. When they let go, their eyes locked, and Naruto placed his hands on her shoulders.

After a moment that seemed like forever, they kissed deeply, Naruto's hands going to the sides of Ino's face, and her hands in his hair. The passionate kiss lasted several minutes, but finally had to end as they were both out of breath.

Naruto suddenly remembered something. The day before he'd gotten something for her. "Oh . . . I almost forgot . . . Happy Valentine's day." Out of his bag he pulled a box of chocolates and a teddy bear. Ino giggled girlishly as the two headed away from the school toward her dad's car that had just driven up.

For the first time in several weeks, Ino could truly say she was happy, as could Naruto. This seemed like the beginning of a complicated relationship, but one well worth it.

* * *

Yay! I decided to make this my last chapter. Please don't make a big deal over it, though. I hope the last chapter was okay and the ending wasn't too chopped off. Please review lots! and if you haven't reviewed to any past chapters, please do so as well. Thanks so much for reading!

Naruchan-in-love


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